My family and I are visiting Denver for a long weekend starting thursday. Its our intention to get the lay of the land and try to figure out if we'd like to move there. We'll mostly tour neighborhoods and go for some walks.

We're interested in Denver because we like the access to outdoors, its much more affordable than nyc, and it seems like a sufficiently large city to keep me and my wife employed. (i'll keep my current job and work remotely but i'm thinking long term.)

Assuming we like what we see, we'd need to find a home to rent, probably committing in feb/march. Its way too early to do that now but it would help to have a sense of the market and neighborhoods. From there my wife would need to find work and we'd need to find daycare for my son who's currently one month shy of 1 year.

I think in some ways we're settling on Denver because of the outdoors and relative affordabilitiy...and past that its lack of momentum in adding cities to the short list. (...strangely, this kind of describes how we arrived at my son's name) The other option is Madison, WI...and I've realized that I still have some of the emotional reactions to WI that I did when I left. Mostly the fear that it would simply feel too small, although I grew up in Appleton, not Madison.

No real suggestions on what exactly to do, other than drive around a lot.
Personally, I think it is a great choice. It is a tight real estate market, from what I have read/heard, but you are coming from an even tighter one, so at least it is less crazy than NYC
My husband's cousin and her husband live there, moved from NYC, when they decided to have kids, sound familiar, and have lived there for about 15 years. They love it for themselves and their two girls.
If you are a skier or are thinking about taking it up, check out which areas would allow you easiest access to the slopes. The cousins ski A LOT now that they live in Denver. Their kids have grown up on the slopes and are apparently very good.

Best of luck finding an area you like. I think you are moving in the right direction.
I think I could really enjoy living in/around Denver. Being so close to Yellowstone and the Tetons is a huge plus, too.

My only advice is to rent a year or more before buying. I've seen too many people buy right away only to lose later when things didn't work out. Housing is a consumable, not an investment, unless it's rental property, etc. The one you live in is a consumable.

That old man - he don't think like no old man...
Now I wouldn't want to be within 400 - 500 yards of one of them nuclear bombs when it goes off! WW1 Vet Old Man
"He's pinned under an outcropping of rock. Lucky for him, the rock kept the dirt from burying him alive."
If idiots could fly, this place would be an airport. And I'd be a TSA agent.
A bonified member of The Mystic Knights of The Sea, George P. Stevens, President. Andy Brown, Treasurer, Algonquin J. Calhoun, Legal Consultant.

QuoteGuyGene
My only advice is to rent a year or more before buying. I've seen too many people buy right away only to lose later when things didn't work out. Housing is a consumable, not an investment, unless it's rental property, etc. The one you live in is a consumable.

Do you have family in CO? You do in WI, correct? Everyone has different priorities, but I would not underestimate the ability to be in close range to family. I know this has certainly become a priority for me, as a Midwesterner bringing up two small kids in greater NYC.

Madison, as a capitol and university town, does have a lot of options. Outdoors are different than CO of course, but there are a lot of options in both. Just depends on what's important to you.

My input might be a little dated as I left the area about 15 years ago. Went to school in Boulder and lived there from 1988-2001. Spent a fair amount of time in Denver over those years and still have friends there. Keep in mind this was the era that saw LoDo go through its modern renaissance. Love Colorado and miss it! Could easily see retiring there with my wife (though leaving the SF Bay area would be tough too).

Gathering from your NY background that you are looking to be in or near the city proper. Lots of the burbs are super cookie cutter mcmansion style neighborhoods (Littleton, Highlands Ranch, Westminster).

Random recollections and thoughts:

Capitol Hill/Cheesman Park
Love this area! Close to downtown, neighborhoods with character. Definitley wander the area here.

Highland Park/Highland/West Colfax, Sloan Lake
Several friends live in this area raising their kids. Nice balance of character with decent proximity to downtown (but it is across the freeway from the city itself). Like these neighborhoods a lot.

Five Points
This was an area that was pretty rough back in the 90's. Very close to downtown, older neighborhood with fair amount of crime/neglect back then. I have a feeling this is one that is going through significant change and might be worth looking into.

LoDo
Loft living and prices to go with it. Lots of neighborhood action.

Couple of things worth doing:
Walk around down at Confluence Park on the South Platte River and be sure to check out Union Station which recently underwent a major renovation.

Since the outdoors is a factor in your potential move, definitely worth getting into the mountains a bit. Peak to Peak Hwy. is beautiful. If you have a car you can pretty easily do a 4-5 hour loop as shown (or shorten it by coming down any of the canyons between P2P and the front range). Don't know what the fall colors are like this year but you may have some late season beauty. Spent a lot of time hiking/biking/backpacking along this highway.

I moved to Denver 11 years ago. I moved from Southern California. I love it here. I'm not a fan of living downtown or even close by. I live just down the road from Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
[redrocksonline.com]

I would suggest that you make a visit to Red Rocks a big priority. It's beautiful there and you have a panoramic view of Denver. There are concerts this weekend, so it will be closed to the public at 2:00 PM.

I like living on the west side of town. It takes about 20 minutes to drive downtown except for during rush hour. Rush hour = 35 - 40 minutes (unless there is a snowstorm).

I really like living in Jefferson County. There are many good schools. The amount of dedicated open space is right off of the charts. You might want to look at Golden. It's fun town to visit and would be a good choice of a place to live. Home prices are higher there compared to some surrounding areas.

The south end of Lakewood has some nice neighborhoods. I like living on the west side of the Metro Denver area. You are close to downtown, but you are right next to the foothills. You can go for incredible hike even if you only have a couple of hours to spare.

QuoteBo
My input might be a little dated as I left the area about 15 years ago. Went to school in Boulder and lived there from 1988-2001. Spent a fair amount of time in Denver over those years and still have friends there. Keep in mind this was the era that saw LoDo go through its modern renaissance. Love Colorado and miss it! Could easily see retiring there with my wife (though leaving the SF Bay area would be tough too).

Gathering from your NY background that you are looking to be in or near the city proper. Lots of the burbs are super cookie cutter mcmansion style neighborhoods (Littleton, Highlands Ranch, Westminster).

Random recollections and thoughts:

Capitol Hill/Cheesman Park
Love this area! Close to downtown, neighborhoods with character. Definitley wander the area here.

Highland Park/Highland/West Colfax, Sloan Lake
Several friends live in this area raising their kids. Nice balance of character with decent proximity to downtown (but it is across the freeway from the city itself). Like these neighborhoods a lot.

Five Points
This was an area that was pretty rough back in the 90's. Very close to downtown, older neighborhood with fair amount of crime/neglect back then. I have a feeling this is one that is going through significant change and might be worth looking into.

LoDo
Loft living and prices to go with it. Lots of neighborhood action.

Couple of things worth doing:
Walk around down at Confluence Park on the South Platte River and be sure to check out Union Station which recently underwent a major renovation.

Since the outdoors is a factor in your potential move, definitely worth getting into the mountains a bit. Peak to Peak Hwy. is beautiful. If you have a car you can pretty easily do a 4-5 hour loop as shown (or shorten it by coming down any of the canyons between P2P and the front range). Don't know what the fall colors are like this year but you may have some late season beauty. Spent a lot of time hiking/biking/backpacking along this highway.

Quotemaco
I really like living in Jefferson County. There are many good schools. The amount of dedicated open space is right off of the charts. You might want to look at Golden. It's fun town to visit and would be a good choice of a place to live. Home prices are higher there compared to some surrounding areas.

The south end of Lakewood has some nice neighborhoods. I like living on the west side of the Metro Denver area. You are close to downtown, but you are right next to the foothills. You can go for incredible hike even if you only have a couple of hours to spare.

Where are you roughly in JC, maco? As I've mentioned before, I'm originally from the Denver area - Lakewood, to be exact. We lived near the intersection of Colfax and Simms when I was born. Boy, has that area changed over the years!

QuoteBo
My input might be a little dated as I left the area about 15 years ago. Went to school in Boulder and lived there from 1988-2001. Spent a fair amount of time in Denver over those years and still have friends there. Keep in mind this was the era that saw LoDo go through its modern renaissance. Love Colorado and miss it! Could easily see retiring there with my wife (though leaving the SF Bay area would be tough too).

Gathering from your NY background that you are looking to be in or near the city proper. Lots of the burbs are super cookie cutter mcmansion style neighborhoods (Littleton, Highlands Ranch, Westminster).

Random recollections and thoughts:

Capitol Hill/Cheesman Park
Love this area! Close to downtown, neighborhoods with character. Definitley wander the area here.

Highland Park/Highland/West Colfax, Sloan Lake
Several friends live in this area raising their kids. Nice balance of character with decent proximity to downtown (but it is across the freeway from the city itself). Like these neighborhoods a lot.

Five Points
This was an area that was pretty rough back in the 90's. Very close to downtown, older neighborhood with fair amount of crime/neglect back then. I have a feeling this is one that is going through significant change and might be worth looking into.

LoDo
Loft living and prices to go with it. Lots of neighborhood action.

Couple of things worth doing:
Walk around down at Confluence Park on the South Platte River and be sure to check out Union Station which recently underwent a major renovation.

Since the outdoors is a factor in your potential move, definitely worth getting into the mountains a bit. Peak to Peak Hwy. is beautiful. If you have a car you can pretty easily do a 4-5 hour loop as shown (or shorten it by coming down any of the canyons between P2P and the front range). Don't know what the fall colors are like this year but you may have some late season beauty. Spent a lot of time hiking/biking/backpacking along this highway.

That is a beautiful drive. I would make the following change. Highway 93 is such a beautiful drive too!